Eric Goodyer
Eric Goodyer's website is www.charnwood-labour.co.uk. This is the statement he issued on being selected. CHARNWOOD CONSTITUENCY LABOUR PARTY SELECT LOCAL ENGINEER TO BE THEIR GENERAL ELECTION CANDIDATE Charnwood Borough resident Eric Goodyer has been chosen by Charnwood Constituency Labour Party to be their prospective parliamentary candidate for the next general election. Aged 53 Eric is a self-employed electronics engineer, married with 2 children. He set up his own business in 1992 when his previous employers ceased trading, along with many other parts of Britain’s manufacturing industry that collapsed under the previous Tory Government. “The first year was the hardest, I earned just under £7000, fortunately my wife had a full-time job, which saw us through OK.” Eric has always taken on the role as primary child-carer for their younger son, so working part-time from the spare bedroom fitted in with childcare duties. He now teaches part-time at DeMontfort University, training tomorrows’ engineers and computer scientists, and engages in research in the field of medical instrumentation in support of tissue engineering and stem-cell research. His expertise has resulted in collaborations in Europe and the USA including Harvard Medical School and UCLA, and the Royal Society has recently awarded him research funds. In Charnwood he has participated in a number of campaigns over recent years. This has included support for more provision for under 5’s, which has now become unnecessary thanks to major initiatives from the Government over recent years. Rights for access to secular education for all, especially in rural areas. Protection for environmentally sensitive and sites of special archaeological interest. Currently he is putting his full support behind the local manifesto demands of Charnwood Labour Party He is committed to Charnwood Labour Party’s Local Manifesto Commitments 1) Designation of the River Soar as a Linear Park protected from future development 2) Housing development to be aimed at the provision of low cost homes for sale and rent 3) Industrial development to be aimed at supporting small and start-up businesses 4) Re-opening the National Forest Railway line for commuter traffic, as an alternative to M1 widening. He is an active member of East Midlands branch of the European Movement. “My work takes me to Europe, the USA and on occasion to the Far East. I therefore see the UK’s economy in a different light to other commentators, and recognise the enormous value of our participation in the EU. Membership of the EU has brought us economic prosperity and 60 years of peace.” This outlook, coupled with his extensive experience of economic development in both the private and public sector is seen as a major campaigning asset, in that it will be attractive to Liberal Democrats, who’s candidate came a poor 3rd in the last General Election. The combined votes of Labour and the Liberal Democrats would be enough to for Stephen Dorrell to lose his seat. Forthcoming boundary changes will also help to build a Labour victory. Charnwood Labour Party Secretary Keith Clafton describes Eric as "a Listener, a Doer and a Writer," and says "we are lucky to have him”. Michael McGloughlin, Chair of Syston Labour Party Branch said “We need you as a candidate in this area, you are a mature person, with strong social political convictions, as a pensioner I welcome your attitude towards all strata of the electorate.” PRESS CONTACTS eric.gooodyer@charnwood-labour.co.uk www.charnwood-labour.co.uk MORE BIOGRAPHICAL DETAILS FOLLOW Eric has been politically active since his early teens. His first campaign being as a member of a group calling for better youth facilities from Harrow Borough Council, which they won. He spent 5 years living in Manchester where he studied Physics and Engineering at UMIST. His first major election secured him the post of Vice-President of the Students Union. UMIST in the 1970’s had a large overseas student intake, and Eric is still in contact with friends from Romania, Greece and even Iraq after all this time. In 1977 he was early on the scene when a coach load of National Front supporters rampaged through the University, causing a lot of damage and injuring many people. Following a statement he made to the press he was forced to leave his home as a result of a series of threats, but some 18 months later 6 of perpetrators were finally taken to court. He sees today’s threat from the BNP as one that must be taken seriously, and confronted at the ballot box. He is a grandson of Jewish immigrants who fled persecution in Eastern Europe at the turn of the century. “I am proud of my heritage. My grandparents arrived here with nothing, worked hard to make a living. Just like today’s immigrants who contribute greatly to this country. My grandfather volunteered for the First World War, and both my parents fought in the 2nd. Like them I consider myself to be English, British & European.”. His views on the Israeli/Palestine conflict were considered radical in the 1970’s but would today would be seen as moderate. “I have always considered that the way forward is what we now call the ‘2-state solution’. It will take time for the anger to subside and the wounds to heal. Perhaps in a generation we will see the beginnings of the equivalent of an EU for the Middle East, building a society where everyone is valued equally, with free movement of people between sovereign states”. In the 1980s he was politically active is South East London, and has the dubious privilege of being the Chair of Labour’s southernmost constituency, Lewisham Deptford, after the Labour Party’s 1983 election defeat. By 1990 the local party worked their way back to success, winning every single Council seat at all tiers of Government, as well as returning a Labour MP, Joan Ruddock, and a Labour MEP. He views Stephen’s Dorrell slim majority of only 8000 in similar light. As a Councillor, he took on the Chair of the Deptford Regeneration Committee, an area of poor housing and high unemployment passed over by the Government run Docklands Development Corporation. As a result of that committee’s work, millions of pounds of inward investment, from public and private sources helped to build a range of new facilities, including houses, managed workshops and recreational facilities. “As an engineer, specialising in the development of new products I have always been engaged in economic development. It was a great pleasure to work with a superb team in Lewisham that delivered economic development on a grand scale”.